


Why don't we paint the town?

by crowdedmasks (emptymasks)



Category: Chicago (2002), Chicago - Kander & Ebb & Fosse
Genre: Alcohol, Cunnilingus, Denial of Feelings, Dom Velma Kelly, Dom/sub, Enemies to Friends, F/F, Feelings Realization, Flashbacks, Hate Sex, Love/Hate, Pre-Relationship, Sub Roxie Hart, Vaginal Fingering, as in pre-romantic relationship, in the flashback, smut is only a small section sorry to get your hopes up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:47:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25137910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emptymasks/pseuds/crowdedmasks
Summary: "Would you just shut up and listen to me!"This goddamn little blonde bitch! Having the nerve after everything to still strut around like the sidewalk would light up under her little feet. Like the streetlamps where spotlights and camera flashes. Like butter wouldn't melt out of her lying mouth.Velma would be lying if she said she didn't respect her for it though.
Relationships: Roxie Hart/Velma Kelly
Comments: 4
Kudos: 22





	Why don't we paint the town?

"Would you just shut up and listen to me!"

This goddamn little blonde bitch! Having the nerve after everything to still strut around like the sidewalk would light up under her little feet. Like the streetlamps where spotlights and camera flashes. Like butter wouldn't melt out of her lying mouth.

Velma would be lying if she said she didn't respect her for it though.

It wasn't as though she'd been searching for Roxie after Billy had spun his ribbons and words and gotten them both off and set free or anything. And if she had that would have been perfectly understandable to wonder what had happened to her and to gloat.

If she'd wanted to gloat.

Part of her had been fascinated at Roxie's little transformation; Going from starry eyed fan, to rival, to climbing up on her high horse, to falling from grace. And after all of that she still couldn't seem to understand how the world worked. How it eat you up and chewed on you until the flavour was gone and it spat you back out.

She'd stumbled over her words on that stage, stuttering and curtsying a little and thanking them as they left the room. It had been... cute. But cute didn't get you far, no matter flattering it could be to have those big, round eyes blinking up at you. Not that Velma made a effort to remember.

Small hands with dainty fingernails clinging onto her stockings and garters as she handed them over. Eyes dewy and overexcited. Of course she'd been flattered. If they'd been anywhere else they might have talked. But you didn't make friends with weak little things in prison.

But Roxie had gone and shown her, hadn't she? She'd shown that she could adapt and pick some things up, even if she didn't like the end results.

It was pathetic to see her now. It was pathetic to see herself now. As if she needed Roxanne Hart back in her life.

And yet, here she was. She'd gone to the trouble of finding out what she was up to and where auditions where and had taken to lurking at the back of the rooms, waiting and knowing Roxie wouldn't be able to stop herself from trying to get on the stage. It was all she'd ever talked about, and sure Velma had laughed her off, but seeing her now... Perhaps it wouldn't have been so bad if Roxie had taken her up on her offer back in the prison. She could act and put on a show, if the courthouse had been anything to go by, and turned out she had a voice in that tiny rib cage.

They could work on the dancing. Velma was sure she could teach her.

"You really are something," Roxie tried to puff up her chest to make herself seem taller. "Coming in here like some goddamn queen bee, all full of advice for a poor slob like me. Well, let me tell you something, Miss Velma Kelly: I got a new life now and one of the best things about it is it don't include you."

"I just thought we could help each other out," Velma knew Roxie wanted this, and they both needed this. Needed the money and the limelight.

"Well you thought wrong, didn't you?"

"Listen to me!"

Her heel caught in the cheap wood floorboards and the papers spilled out of her arms. She swept down to pick them up, dress hiking up over her stockings. When she glanced up, Roxie was staring at her, at her legs to be more specific. Velma would have felt a warm buzz had it not been for the realisation that the holes that had gnawed their way through the fabric were now all on show. She covered them back up with her dress as she stood, hating that she felt the slightest twinge of embarrassment. Screw it, let Roxie eat her words and see they were both nothing but washed up.

"Look, I talked to this guy downtown, he said one jazz killer is nothing these days... but two..." Velma stepped in closer to Roxie as she seemed drawn in by her words. "We could make a couple of hundred a week. Think about it, Roxie. Our faces back in the papers, our names on the marquee: Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart."

"Shouldn't it be alphabetical?" She was never one to miss a beat now was she?

"That could work."

"Couple hundred? Maybe we could ask for a thou." That was the spirit.

"We're worth it."

Oh she could almost already taste the rhinestones on her tongue again. Roxie seemed almost in a daze as she thought over the offer. She just had to say yes.

"Forget it," As quickly as that Roxie's face shut off and she turned towards the door. "It'll never work."

"Why not?"

"'Cause I hate you."

Velma laughed. Oh, that little thing. "There's only one business in the world where that's no problem at all."

Roxie turned slowly. Realisation and a smile creeping in on her face.

She could already hear the announcer’s voice now.

\-----

"We did it! We actually did it! And they loved us!" Roxie twirled around their new apartment, roses in hand.

The apartment was only small, but it was far better than any place either of them had lived in for a long time. There were three rooms, a small kitchen, bathroom, and one bedroom... with just the one bed. It wasn't a bother, Velma had shared a bed with her sister plenty of times, and her time at _ had often left few moments of true privacy around other women.

And it wasn't as though she and Roxie hadn't been too close before.

Not that either of them talked about it.

How not too soon after the underwear incident Velma had been angry and annoyed that Roxie was starting to worm her way into Billy's head and becoming the focus of his attention, but not so far in that she didn't still have stars in her eyes when she saw Velma. That look infuriated her even more. How dare she look at Velma like she was someone to be jealous of. Like she was someone who had answers and advice.

But Annie had teased about how long had Roxie waited to give Velma her underwear? _'She's borderline obsessed with you, don't you think, Velma? Wouldn't surprise me if she'd held onto those lacy little numbers overnight. Do you think she tried them on? Do you think let her hands drift places?'_

And no Velma hadn't thought that, but suddenly it was all she could think about and threw her cards down on the table and stormed her way up to Roxie's cell and Roxie had looked so pleased to see her and no one was around and she was so fucking fed up she'd shoved her against the wall, pinning her there as her lips grazed her ear and slid her thigh between Roxie's legs.

And Roxie had been so pliant and receptive and she'd come apart under Velma's fingers and she'd stammered out how she should return the favour and it wasn't fair if she was the only one who got too... Little mouse couldn't even say the word. And so Velma had told her to get her head between her legs. How she'd said she'd never done it before, as if it wasn't obvious. How quiet her voice had been when she'd asked _'Will you tell me what to do?'_ and what really was Velma supposed to do with that other than order Roxie about as she rocked against her face.

"And they threw us flowers!" Roxie's voice cut through her thoughts. "Actual flowers! And the sound of them, how many of them were you, do you think? It looked packed out there. And oh, Velma, we were amazing!"

Roxie rushed over to her and grabbed her hands, the bunch of roses now sandwiched between them, and continued to spin. She was laughing and getting out of breath, her cheeks tinting as pink as her lips.

When she stopped spinning so she could catch her breath, she looked down at their joined hands. Velma could feel her heart pounding in her ears. Roxie's face didn't seem to know what to do, mouth flapping open uselessly. She drew her hands away suddenly and clutched them to her chest, turning to put the flowers down and rubbing her wrist nervously.

They'd been celebrating and drinking and would have headed to bed, but now the atmosphere had changed and Velma didn't know if she could handle being under the covers with Roxie if they were going to be goddamn _nervous_ with each other.

"And we'll continue being amazing. They'll keep wanting us back," She reassured both of them, slipping of her robe and getting into the bed. She wasn't going to put off sleeping because things could be awkward.

"Yeah..." Roxie shook her head, trying to get herself back to where she'd been. She grabbed her glass of wine (the bottle had been a gift from some young thing in the audience) and downed the rest of it. "Yeah! Of course they will. Who could resist us, really? 'Scintillating sinners'. Did you hear them call us that?"

"Well, it's true isn't it?"

"I should hope so," Roxie laughed quietly, the alcohol now clearly buzzing around in her brain as she swayed on her feet. Velma didn't want to think about what that meant, or if Roxie would have said it if she wasn't tipsy.

"Get into bed, Rox, before you trip over your own feet."

Roxie went unusually quiet as she crawled into the space next to her. Velma closed her eyes and tried to keep them closed, but it was hard when she could feel Roxie staring at her.

"What?" She said to those eyes blinking far too close to her.

"You've never called me 'Rox' before," She said it like it was some secret.

"Oh..."

"It's not bad... I think I'll let you keep it."

"Oh, you'll _let_ me, will you?"

"Mhm," Roxie hummed and smiled, far too pleased with herself.

She was close, too close, and she kept looking at Velma's lips and goddammit Velma was not going to give in and do something stupid because they were both, once again, lonely and it had been too long since either of them had been intimate with anyone. Velma wished that hadn't made her wonder if Roxie's last time had been with her. No, she was not going to do anything while Roxie could blame the alcohol and get angry with her in the morning and their act be over with.

They had to work together and Velma could keep it together.

Then yawned and rolled onto her stomach. "G'night, Velma," Roxie muttered into the pillow and it wasn't a matter of seconds before it seemed she'd dozed off.

Velma just had to keep it together.

**Author's Note:**

> so i just rewatched chicago for the first time in almost ten years and i had to write something straight away as soon as it finished.
> 
> it's weird watching films i haven't watched since before i realised i wasn't straight because it's like 'oh i sure did also always like girls huh'. and also, as weird as it might be, velma/roxie was the first femslash pairing i ever read fanfiction about, years and years ago. i don't know if i remember any of the fics well enough to find them again.
> 
> this is based on the movie. i don't know if it'll feel ooc to have them fall for each other in a slightly softer way at the end, but hey, it's not my fault velma's a disaster bisexual doesn't know how to keep her cool around a cute girl who looks up to her


End file.
